Power plant



Feb. 16 1926. 1,573,582

A. R. SMITH POWER PLANT Filed Nov. 5 1921 Inventor": Arthur R.6mit h, b5

' H is Attorney.

- 95 well 9 in which the condensate collects.

I 80 the heating steam passes.

Patented Feb. 16, 1926i I UNITED STAT ARTHUR B. SMITH, OF SCHENECTADY, NEW YdRK, ASSIGNOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

POWER PLANT.

- Application filed November 5, 1921. Serial No. 513,006.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARTHUR B. SMITH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Schenectady, in the county of Schenectady,

5 State of New new and useful Improvements in Power Plants, of which the following is a specification.

The present invention relates to power plants and has for its object to providean improved power plant arrangement which will give a high thermal efliciency.

For a consideration of what I believe to :be novel and my invention, attention is 16 reeted to the accompanying the claims "appended thereto.

In the drawing, the figure is a diagrammat-1c view of a power plant embodying my invention.

Referring to the drawing, 5 indicates a rime mover, such as an elastic fluid turbine, iaving an inlet conduit 6 and a discharge conduit -7, the latter'being connected to a condenser 8 at, the bottom of which 18 three sections,

indicates a heater comprising A, B and C, the same being preferably of the type comprising tubes through which the water to lie-heated passes, and. over which The tubes of sections A and B areeonnected in series not each other by a pipe 11 which connects the discharge end of the tubes in section A to I the inlet end of the tubes in section B. The

inlet end of the tubesinseetion A are con- 12 to the discharge side of a condensate pump 13 and the outlet end of the tubes in section B are connected to a pipe 14 leading to the hot well (not shown) from which water is drawn to feed the boilers. The suction side of pump 13 is connected bv a conduit 15 to well 9. ,Con-

. densate iron the condenser 'isn-thus taken I by pump 13 and circulated first through the nected by a pipe i 45 tubes of heater section A. then through the tubes of heatersection B after which it is discharged through pipe 14 to the hot well. p p

The casing of. heater section A is connected by a conduit 16 to alow pressure stage of 50 turbine 5, a stage being selectedat which steam of suitable pressure and temperature p will be furnished for initial heating urposes, and the'casing of heater section is connected by a conduit 17. to a stage of the a turbine in advance of that to wh ch condu t York, have invented certain (lldescription and 16 is connected and from which steam at a pressure and temperature suitable for final heating purposes will be furnished. In conduits 16 and 17 are control valves 18 and 19.

For withdrawing air and non-condensable vapors from condenser 8, a two-stage steam operated air ejector is illustrated, the first stage 20 having its suction side connected by a pipe 21' to condenser 8 and its discharge pipe 22 connected to an intercooler condenser '23, and thesecond stage having its suction side 24 connected to intercooler condenser 23 and its discharge pipe 25 to any suitable point, preferably to some apparatus which will extract the heat in the discharge and return it to the system. Steam for operating the two stages of the ejector is supplied by pipes 26 and .27.

and led away he the water which is previously circulated through the turbine bearings for cooling them being discharged by pipe 29. The condensate of condenser 23 is carried to well 9 by a pipe 30' provided with a goose neck 31, and from well 9 it is pumped to the hot well. The condensate formed in heater section A is conveyed by a pipe32 to condenser 23 from whence it passes to well 9 byway of pipe 30. Pipe 32, is provided with a suitable trap 33.

At 35 is illustrated an evaporator or boiler for generating steam. It comprises a casing 36provided at its lower end with a well 37 to which the suction side of a pump 38 is connected by a pipe 39. The discharge side of pump 38 is connected by a pipe 40 to the admission end of the heating tubes in heater section C,-the discharge end of such tubes being connected by a pipe 41 to a spray head 42 in the upper portion of casing 36. The upper portion of casing 36 is connected by a pipe 43 to condenser 8, there being a suitable valve 44 therein. Make up water for the system is taken from pipe 29 by a branch pipe 45 leading to well 37. In

i e 45 is a suitable valve 46 and in pipe pipe 45 there- 29 beyond the connection of to pipe 40 is withis a valve 47., Gonnecte a blow ofi pipe 48 in which is a valve 49 rovided with an operating arm 50 connected by a link 51 to an arm 52 actuated b afloat 53 which rides on the liquid in we 37 The arrangement is such that the float will automation y maintain a constant level Cooling water for inter cooler condenser 23 is supplied by pipe 28 by pipe 29, and this water may is connected by a conduit 54 to a sta e of the turbine from which steam of suita le temrature for heatin purposes may be drawn, it being shown in t e present instance as being connected to the same stage as conduit 17. In conduit 54 is a valve 55. The condensate of heating sections B and C is carried away by pipes 56 and 57 which ma lead to the drip system of the plant. the water thus collected being again put back into the boilers.

In operation, condensate from condenser 8 is circulated by pump 13 through heater sections A and B from which it passes through pipe 14 to the hot well. Valves 18 and 19 are 0 ened to admit suflicient steam to heater sections A and B to raise the water passing through them to the desired temperature. It will be noted that the heat.- mg is done in a plurality of sta es, two in the present instance, the water eing first heated by steam of lower temperature and then by steam ofdrigher temperature. This ives the most economical heating. It will he understood, of course, that this heating may be carried .out in more than two stages it found desirable. -Valves 46 and 47 are set so slightly more water will be supplied to well 3'7 than is required for the make up water, the excess being automatically discharged through valve 49. This Water is warmed more or less in passing through the turbine bearin s and through condenser 23 before being de ivered to well 37. From Well 37 the water is taken by pump 38 and circulated through heater section C, valve 55 being set to admit sufficient steam to raise the temperature of the water to the desired degree. From heater 0 the water is dischar ed throu h pipe 41 to head 42 from whic it is disc arged in the form of a spray and flashed into steam, the pressure in evaporator 0r boiler 35 being such that a certain percentage of the heated water will vaporize or flash into steam as soon as it enters the boiler. The steam formed in the evaporator or boiler isconveyed by conduit 43 to condenser 8 where it is condensed and joins the condensate from turbine 5. The evaporator or boiler may have a re'ssure but little higher than that of con enser 8 so the steam formed therein will have a comparatively low temperature which means that the steam taken from the turbine to heat the raw water will be efiiciently utilized in the formation of pure make up water. All the steam used for heating purposes does work in the turbine prior to being bled therefrom so that the energy of the steam is all made use of.

In accordance with the provisions of the patent statutes, I have described the principle of my invention, together with the apparatus which I now consider to represent amassa the best embodiment thereof, but I desire'to have it understood that the apparatus shown is only illustrative and that the invention may be carried out by other means.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is: i 1. In a power plant, the combination of a prime mover, a condenser therefor, a feed y water heater, means for supplying elastic fluid which has done work in the prime mover to the'feed water heater, means for circulating the condenser condensate through said heater, an evaporator, a conduit or conveying steam from it to the condenser, asecond heater, means for supplying elastic fluid which has done work in the prime mover to said second heater, means for circulating water through said second heater, and means for conveying it from the second heater to the evaporator.

. 2. In a power plant, the combination of a prime mover, a condenser therefor, a feed water heater comprising a plurality of heating sections connected in series as regards the flow of water to be heated, means for supplying elastic fluid from diflr'erent points in the prime over to said heating sections, means for circulating the condenser condensate through said heating sections, an evaporator, a conduit for conveying steam from it to the condenser, a second heater means for sup lying elastic fluid which has done work in tlie prlme mover to said second heater, means for circulating water through said second heater, and means for conveying it from the second heater to the eva orator;

3. In a power plant, the combination of a prime mover, a condenser therefor, an evaporator, a discharge conduit connecting it to the condenser, a heater, means for supplying heating steam thereto from a point of intermediate pressure in the prime mover, and means connecting the heater to the evaporator.

4. In a power plant, the combination of a prime mover, a condenser therefor, an evaporator, a discharge conduit connecting it to the condenser, a heater, means for supplying heating steam thereto from a point of intermediate pressure in the prime mover, and a pump for circulating raw water through the heater to the eve orator. Y

5. In a power plant, the com ination of a prime mover, a condenser therefor, an evaporator, a discharge conduit connecting it to the condenser, a heater, means for supplying heating steam thereto from a point of intermediate pressure in the prime mover, a well at the bottom of the evaporator, means for supplying make up water to said well, and means for circulating water from said well throulgh the heater to the evaporator.

6. n a power plant, the combination of an elastic-fluid prime-mover, a condenser therefor, a heater through which condensate 30 from the condenser is passed, meanssupplying partially utilized elastic fluid from the r1me mover to said heater, means connectmg the heater with the condenserforminga 5 drain for the condensate formed in said heater, an evaporator'having a. vapor space and a fluid-receiving well, a second heater, means supplying partially utilized elastic fluid from the prime mover to said second heater, a conduit for supplying fluid from the evaporatorreceiving well to the second heater, a conduit for supplying fluid from the second heater to the evaporator vapor space, an exhaust conduitfor the evaporator connecting the vapor space thereof with the condenser, and means supplying liquid to the evaporator-receiving well.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set m'yhand this 4th day of November, 1921. ARTHUR R. SMITH. 

